Prof Ngeow (left)
and Dr Pang (right) during the webinar
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark
reminder that despite our twenty-first century social and technological
advances, we are still vulnerable to natural disasters that can devastate
world populations and economies. Thus, a webinar on “COVID-19: The Virus and
The Host” was co-organised by the Centre for Research on Communicable Diseases (CRCD) and Centre for Corporate and Community
Development (CCCD) on 12 June 2020. It was conducted in Microsoft Teams.
The webinar gave the audience a
better insight into the COVID-19 virus and ways our body responds to their
onslaught. Speaking at the webinar were FMHS lecturer Dr Yap Moh Lan and
Universiti Malaya Faculty of Medicine Consultant Respiratory Physician Assoc
Prof Dr Pang Yong Kek while moderating the webinar was FMHS CRCD Chairperson
Prof Dr Ngeow Yun Fong.
Dr Yap presenting
her slides
Dr Yap presented her topic titled
“The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2” whereby she
spoke about the discovery of coronavirus, human coronaviruses, animal
origins of human coronaviruses, fatality rate, the phylogeny of
coronaviruses, the structure of SARS-CoV-2, the life cycle of coronavirus
and other relevant topics.
She explained, “The coronavirus is
the largest genome among the RNA viruses and it is circulated among mammals,
bats, avian species and human. It causes respiratory infections. The
structure of the SARS-CoV-2 consists of spike protein, membrane protein,
lipid protein and envelope protein.”
Dr Pang discussed the “Clinical
Manifestations of COVID-19” during his session. Throughout Dr Pang’s
session, he gave an introduction on COVID-19, the symptoms and signs of
COVID-19, imaging and laboratory findings, organ-specific and systemic
manifestation, the unique features of COVID-19 as well as teaching the
participants to capitalise on this understanding.
He said, “The lessons learned from
the past and present pandemics will certainly enhance our understanding of
this long-term nemesis. Hopefully, the understanding gained from these
battlegrounds will form the foundation in guiding and preparing us for the
future outbreaks.” He added, “In order to fight the virus, our body has the
innate immunity to control and eliminate the virus. During this process,
many inflammatory cells and chemicals known as cytokines are secreted. This
transition period will result in disruption in the functions of the body
organs as well as tissue damage.”
The webinar was followed by a Q&A
session between the speakers and participants.
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